Tim Weisberg — At Gillette Stadium: Pats playing as a team — finally

After weeks of simply surviving, the New England Patriots finally thrived in a 59-24 victory over the upstart Indianapolis Colts and rookie sensation Andrew Luck.

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By Tim Weisberg

southcoasttoday.com

By Tim Weisberg

Posted Nov. 19, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 19, 2012 at 12:11 AM

By Tim Weisberg

Posted Nov. 19, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 19, 2012 at 12:11 AM

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FOXBORO — Now that's more like it.

After weeks of simply surviving, the New England Patriots finally thrived in a 59-24 victory over the upstart Indianapolis Colts and rookie sensation Andrew Luck.

"Not perfect, but I'll take it," head coach Bill Belichick said after the game.

But that statement feels a lot different following a blowout victory than it did in games in which the Patriots just barely outlasted inferior opposition.

After five of their previous nine games this season had come down to the final possession, the Pats finally looked dominant against a potential playoff team for the first time since beating Denver by 10 points over a month ago. They tied the franchise high for points in a game, scoring better than 50 points for the second time this season, and scored at least one touchdown in all three phases of the game — offense, defense and special teams — for just the second time in franchise history.

What's most encouraging is that it was a different group of Patriots who stepped up in this game. Last week it was running back Danny Woodhead and defensive back Devin McCourty who came up with the big plays, and this week it was receiver Julian Edelman and three other defensive backs that came up big.

"I think that's team football," Pats quarterback Tom Brady (24-of-35, 331 yards, three TDs, 0 INTs, 127.2 rating) said. "Julian has been dying to get out there and make plays and he certainly did (Sunday) and we needed it. Next week it could be someone else."

Edelman, who looked like he was going to be a major focus of the New England offense this season before a broken hand took him out of action for a couple of weeks, finally had his bounce-back game, with a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown to go along with seven catches for 58 yards and another score, and a 47-yard rush that led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Stevan Ridley to make it 52-24 late in the fourth quarter.

Edelman also had a 49-yard punt return that set up Shane Vereen for the final score of the game, averaged 58.5 yards on his two punt returns and also had a forced fumble in the game.

The Patriots still allowed Luck to throw for 334 yards and two touchdowns, but that shouldn't take away from what was the finest performance by the New England secondary this season. The acquisition of Aqib Talib has helped solidify things back there, even with safety Patrick Chung inactive with hamstring and shoulder injuries, and the rest of the secondary stepped up their game as a result.

The Patriots picked off Luck three times, and two of them (an 87-yarder by rookie Alfonzo Dennard and a 59-yarder by Talib) were of the pick-six variety, as the New England defense and special teams scored as many touchdowns (three) as the Indianapolis offense. Rookie Tavon Wilson's interception of Luck on a first-and-10 from the New England 45-yard line with 2:25 left to play (his team-leading fourth of the season) didn't go back for a touchdown, but it served as the final nail in the coffin for the Colts. The Patriots' defense also had six near-interceptions as well, as their pressure on Luck paid off.

"We got our hands on a lot of balls. We dropped a few, we caught some, (but) I thought we were able to put some pressure on (Luck)," Belichick said.

It's almost an anomaly that the Colts still posted 448 net yards of offense, considering how well the New England defense handled them. That's more yards than the Patriots had (446), as the Colts had more offensive plays (75, compared to 60), more yards rushing (119 to 115), more gross yards in the air (334 to 331) and had the ball more (32:55 to 27:05).

But the Colts did most of the damage on their first two drives, before the Patriots' defense kicked into a higher gear, sparked by Talib's interception.

"I think we settled in," linebacker Rob Ninkovich said. "Obviously they gave us their best shot early ... I was happy we were able to settle down and stop them there toward the end, and then we were able to just kind of keep rolling on that momentum."

Luck set a new NFL rookie record when he threw for 300 yards for the fifth time this season, but the Patriots still held him to his third-worst passer rating (63.3) of the season.

Now, the Patriots must keep the momentum going on Thanksgiving night in a nationally televised game against the New York Jets. The Jets are a team that is in total disarray in the locker room, yet they can still find a way to get it done on the field, as evidenced by how they managed to pull out a 27-13 win over the Rams on Sunday.

There is also a great deal of concern surrounding tight end Rob Gronkowski, who led the team with 137 receiving yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, but left the game late in the third quarter. USA Today reported after the game that Gronkowski was being X-rayed and that the Patriots feared he had suffered a forearm fracture. The report did not specify which arm or when the injury may have occurred. CSNNE's Tom E. Curran reported that a source had confirmed to him that the forearm was indeed broken.

Losing Gronkowski for any period of time would be a huge blow for an offense that was already without fellow star tight end Aaron Hernandez (ankle) against the Colts, especially with the next game just four days away.

Gronkowski scored his 10th touchdown of the season against Indianapolis, becoming the first tight end in NFL history to post three straight 10-plus TD seasons, and only the third Patriot overall to reach that milestone.

Without or without their starting tight ends, the Patriots know they'll need an even better effort against the Jets. They've finally started to play complementary football, and are one step closer to playing complete football.

"I think we're trying to make improvements," Brady said. "I don't think we're anywhere (near) where we need to be at this point. We've got a lot of football left, and this Thursday is going to be a big game."

Tim Weisberg covers the New England Patriots for The Standard-Times. Contact him at timweisberg@hotmail.com